This is a post from NF Team Member Staci.
Ahh, bacon and eggs – one of the most standard and easy breakfasts. Plus, it’s Paleo!
Whether you’re trying to lose weight or put on muscle, bacon and eggs is an awesome (and delicious) option.
Before I learned to cook, I ate simple bacon and eggs ALL THE TIME. It was easy to make, delicious, and supported my training goals. But after a while I got bored; there was no reason why I had to stick to the same exact thing.
So I started to experiment and look for ways to mix up bacon and eggs, under two conditions.
It had to be easy and it had to remain delicious.
Today you’re going to learn my 5 favorite ways to spice up bacon and eggs.
bacon, Sweet Potato Hash, and eggs
Bacon and Sweet Potato Hash is one of my absolute favorite recipes. Not only does it go great as a side for eggs at breakfast, it also works for a side dish for dinners. It’s a great, easy (and Paleo!) dish to bring to a pot luck.
You Will Need:
- 4 medium sized sweet potatoes
- 4 thick slices of bacon
- 1/2 cup sliced scallions
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- Salt and Pepper
**If you want to make these spicy, add 1/2 tsp. all spice and hot sauce (I like Sriracha, though it’s not the most Paleo sauce available)
- Start with chopping up your sweet potatoes into small squares. You can peel the sweet potatoes if you would like, but I prefer to keep the skin on.
- Place the sweet potato squares in a pot, cover them in cold water, and cook them on high heat until the water starts boiling. Once it starts to boil, turn the heat down to low and simmer for 5-7 minutes.
- When you can poke the sweet potatoes easily with a fork, but they wouldn’t be easy to mash (this is called “al dente”), they are done. Drain them and then shock them with cold water (run cold water over the colander), put them on a paper towel, and blot off excess water.
While your potatoes are cooking, it’s time to cook the bacon!
- Take a pan and put it on medium high heat, coat the pan with extra virgin olive oil, and then put the bacon in it.
- Cook the bacon for about 5-7 minutes, flipping occasionally, until it’s cooked through, but not too crispy. Remove the bacon from the pan, but leave the fat.
- Now, add the sweet potatoes to the pan, frying them in the bacon fat, turning occasionally with a spatula or wooden spoon. After it starts to brown, add the scallions, bacon, paprika, salt and pepper, and mix it all up.
Note: If your pan isn’t big enough to put all of the sweet potatoes in at the same time (mine isn’t!), I would take half of the bacon fat and put it in a small bowl off to the side, and then put it back in the pan when you are ready to cook your second batch.
And it’s done! Serve with eggs (avocado makes a great side too!).
Bacon and Egg Cup
This recipe is one of my favorites and one of the easiest! These are great since you can make a bunch ahead of time and then bring them with you to work/class/super hero training. They also make great Paleo “finger food” at a party, or a side dish at a Paleo pot luck.
What you need:
- Bacon (6 slices – use a regular cut, not a thick cut- bacon can be pre-cooked to make crispier)
- Egg (6 eggs)
- Muffin Tin
- Yields 6 muffin cups
- First, pre-heat your oven to 350. Then, take your muffin tin and spray it with a non stick spray.
- Next, take one bacon slice, and, starting with the bottom, line the edges of the muffin tin with the bacon.
- After that, crack an egg into each bacon lined cup. The bacon should stick to the outside of the tin, but don’t worry too much if there are pieces that curl inward.
Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes, depending on how well done you want your eggs cooked and how runny you want the yolks.
And that’s it! Seriously! Now quickly consume all 6 cups or save them for an excellent snack (or not).
Mini-Omelette
For this recipe, we are going to build off the previous recipe. This is another recipe that is great for a Paleo finger food, or an on the go option. A lot of times I will make half bacon/egg cups and half mini omelettes when I’m pre-cooking food for the week.
You will need:
- 4 Eggs
- Vegetables of your choice, chopped – pretty much anything works here. In this example, I used onions, zucchini, baby bella mushrooms, and broccoli. A few other popular choices are asparagus, spinach, bell peppers, and tomatoes. For the amount – I’ll usually have a small handful of each.
- 1 Sausage – your choice on flavor. I normally use chorizo, but used a chicken andouille this time because that is what was available at my local market.
- Bacon or Muffin Cups
- Muffin tin
- First, start out pre-heating the oven to 350.
- Then, chop up your vegetables and sausage into small pieces.
- Crack your eggs into a bowl, and whip them up with a fork. Add your vegetables and sausage, and mix it up.
Now, spray your muffin tin with a cooking spray.
For the cups, you have two options:
1. Line the cups with bacon like you did with the bacon and egg cups
2. Line the cups with muffin cups.
The bacon option tastes better, but if you’re making these for an easy on the go breakfast, the muffin cup is easier to bring with you…Though you could also line a muffin cup with the bacon!
Whichever you choose, pour the mixture into the cups. Bake 15-18 minutes. Once they are done, wait for them to cool and then pop them out of the tin with a fork.
Scrambled Eggs, Vegetables, and Bacon
This is also very similar to the previous recipe, only instead of baking this, we will pan fry it. I love to make this for dinner while baking some omelette cups to have for lunches/snacks throughout the week, and use the same mixture.
What you’ll need:
- 4 Eggs
- Vegetables of your choice, chopped – pretty much anything works here. In this example, I used onions, zucchini, baby bella mushrooms, spinach, and broccoli. A few other popular choices are asparagus, spinach, bell peppers, and tomatoes. For the amount – I’ll usually have a small handful of each.
- Note: If you’re not full Paleo, you can add milk (about a tablespoon per egg) and cheese.
What to do:
- Crack the eggs into a bowl, and stir with a fork until the whites and yolks are mixed together well.
- Add your vegetables, and mix up.
- Put a skillet on medium heat, and wait for it to get hot. Then spray the pan with cooking spray. Pour your egg mixture on, and use a spatula to mix it up as it cooks. This burns super quick if you don’t keep it moving.
Serve with bacon!
*You can also make an omelette out of the exact same ingredients.
Bacon Wrapped Asparagus
This one is as easy as it sounds, and is great for parties, and even cold as a late night snack (I just learned this one!)
What you need:
- Bacon
- Asparagus
What to do:
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Farenheit
- Take 3-5 stalks of asparagus, depending on their size.
- Take one slice of bacon, and starting near the bottom, wrap the bacon around the asparagus, leaving the tips exposed.
- Spray a glass cooking pan or a cookie sheet with cooking spray (I prefer glass) and cook at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes – I usually start checking on it around 15 minutes though. You don’t want the bacon too crispy here, it should still be pliable
Serve on a fancy dish and impress your guests!
Get cookin’
The prospect of cooking new tons of new foods and recipes can often seem daunting.
Like everything we preach here at Nerd Fitness, keep it simple, start small, and build up.
Whether you’re cooking spaghetti squash for the first time, learning Chicken Stirfry, or figuring out what the heck to do with ground beef, take a deep breath, turn the oven on, and get started.
So, pick the easiest one above for you and master it! With just a little tweak here and there, you’ll find yourself making an entirely new recipe.
How else do you like to cook eggs and bacon?
-Staci
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photo source: eggs
